About Private Midwives Australia
A Grassroots Project, By Midwives, For Midwives and Families
Private Midwives Australia exists to explain what Privately Practicing Endorsed Midwives can do, to help women find the right Midwife for their needs, and to promote Midwifery in its full scope across Australia.
Why this site exists
In Australia, there is still a lack of understanding about midwifery as a profession. Endorsed midwives are primary maternity care providers working autonomously and in partnership with women across all settings.
Across the country, midwives are working in creative ways to meet women’s needs:
Providing care as the primary carer for women whether at home, in birth centres, or in hospitals
Offering flexible antenatal and postnatal care in the community
Supporting women in early pregnancy and extended postpartum
Providing sexual and reproductive healthcare, including contraception and family planning.
This website brings those truths forward.
As Endorsed Midwives, we know the truth: we can provide full scope care from pregnancy confirmation, prescribing, ordering ultrasounds and blood tests, through to homebirth, hospital birth, and postnatal care, sexual and reproductive healthcare. With Medicare rebates available, midwifery care can be both personal and accessible.
This website is not run by an institution. It’s a grassroots effort, built by Midwives who believe women deserve to know their options and Midwives deserve to be seen.
What we are creating here
We invite you to build with us:
A directory of Endorsed Private Midwives across Australia
Clear, evidence-based information about the scope of midwifery practice
Resources and articles to help women understand their options
Updates on advocacy, maternity reform, and midwifery visibility
Our vision
We believe women deserve clear information and real choice. We believe Midwives deserve to be visible, connected, and valued for the full scope of what they do.
This is a space to connect women with care, midwives with each other, and the wider community with the truth about midwifery in Australia.
What midwives do
The International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) defines midwifery as a unique profession with its own body of knowledge, skills, and professional attitudes, grounded in autonomy, partnership, ethics, and accountability.
Midwifery is an approach to care for women, gender diverse people, and newborns whereby midwives:
Provide education on sexual and reproductive health, contraception, and family planning, including administering contraceptives (within scope of practice)
Optimise the normal biological, psychological, social, and cultural processes of pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal and newborn period
Work in partnership with women, respecting individual circumstances, values, and choices
Promote women’s personal capabilities to care for themselves and their families
Collaborate with midwives and other health professionals, when needed, to provide holistic care that meets each woman’s needs
Midwifery care is always provided by an autonomous midwife, educated to international standards, and enabled to work to full scope of practice in line with the ICM’s Definition of a Midwife, Scope of Practice, and Essential Competencies.